most pleasantest

Greg Kurstin together with Inara George advocates that Ray Guns are not just the Future through their pleasant enough pop outfit, The Bird and the Bee.

Their second album, after the great success that was their self-titled album, is on one short sentence, pop at its best. Certainly, Greg Kurstin is a pop maestro, helping artists like Lily Allen and Kylie Minogue with their sound. But with this outfit, he transforms into someone else totally different from the mainstream.

He puts out a great mix of Jazz-like tunes infused with heavy electronica beats and some Bossanova thrown in for good measure. While Inara George puts into it, her pleasant, sweet natured spin by way of her voice.  Together, The Bird and the Bee is, like I said, pleasant enough pop.

Ray Guns are not just the Future, is not quite the far cry away from their self-titled debut. It is in essentiality the same sound with enchanced productions. Here, the beats comes in more heavy and frequent, upping the pop factor, almost leaning towards the mainstream.  Evidence of this present in songs like, Fanfare and first single, Love Letter to Japan.

Another factor present in the music they put out  is also this sort of 60’s-esque feel to it. When the age of music was blossoming into what it is today. But they do not do it directly, they put a modern element to it (as with any self-respecting band there is around). Songs like Witch and Polite Dance Song exudes a sort of innocence which entices and urges.

Also drawing inspiration from music that is already out there, track Meteor sounds in the same vein as what The Postal Service had put out when it was still in sync.

Overall, Ray Guns are just not the Future, is a great second album from The Bird and the Bee. Utter joy and most pleasantest.

www.myspace.com/thebirdandthebee

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On the note of most pleasantest, our favorite nice girl Maria Taylor is swinging back to us with a third album after Lynn Teeter Flower. Time Laspse Lifeline is the typical Maria Taylor sound.

Something we (or rather I) have come to love and enjoy, this one is no different, can’t wait for Ladyluck.

www.myspace.com/mariataylor

my take: Duffy live

Captivating, was the one word to best describe Welsh chanteuse Duffy’s performance at the Indoor Stadium yesterday.

The fact is,  she is not one hell of a performer but she manages to captivate her audience with her earnesty in her performance along with her unique voice.  The smart usage of stage lights added to the atmosphere of the Indoor Stadium (which I felt was too big a venue for an artist like Duffy).

Duffy came out at approximately 8:10pm and opened the show with, Rockferry which was so much more better enhanced with the use of lighting. The simple enough stage lit up with the use of  starlight-like lights against a backdrop with a simple enough word of her name “Duffy”.

Dressed in a classic LBD with red pumps, Duffy delivered the song Rockferry with heart-wrench as her voice pierced through the halls of the Indoor Stadium. As the song ended, you could tell that people in the stadium were bowled over. I didn’t think Rockferry would sound so good live.

She later changed into a second outfit which saw her through the rest of her 13-set concert, complete with “Litte Duffettes” (her backup singers whom I swear looked like mini-versions of her).

The only gripe I think Duffy and I had was the lack of people getting on their feets to groove on songs like, Serious, Delayed Devotion, Rain On Your Parade and Stop. Throughout the 1 hour plus set, she kept getting people to get up and dance but had amount naught till her last number, Mercy. Which she squealed in delight “Now you wanna play!” before the hook came in.

Also Duffy’s failed attempt at immersing herself into the Singaporean way of saying Thank You. Instead of saying “Xie Xie”, she came off as saying “Xi ya Xi ya”, which was an endearing effort on her part and brought much laughter to the crowd of mainly expats and some Singaporean non-fans.

She has enigmatic, old-soul presence on stage but in a young woman. Which is what you would expect from an artist like Duffy. She connects properly with her audience and takes them on an emotional high complete with light moments. She uses her voice rather than theatrics and props, which is, what is fresh about an artist like her. Her voice was enough to make one forget the time and at the end, you do feel like her gig was too short but in fact she had been playing for almost 2 hours.

For me the highlight of the whole concert, was seeing and hearing songs like, Rain On Your Parade, Stop, Fool for You and my personal fav, Distant Dreamer played live. It was way better than hearing it on the iPod and Compact Disc.

Pictures can’t desecribe the amazing time I had watching Duffy, and I mean it. If Duffy did come again, I would definitely watch her. Amazing.

nothing but song

How does one spend a weekend of absolutely pining for nothing and only music to get by? Well, that person just does. After much hamming and hawing I find myself landing squarely on a puddle of weekend that just might sum up the maniac week I’ve sorta had.

I am just listening to it now and I am loving it. Metric’s new one, Fantasies, is a breath of fresh air from the saturated I have been listening to. Bar the fact they have taken a lot of the electronic out of their new one, they have still managed to calm their fans with great arrangements and production.

You just can’t go wrong with Emily Haines and songs on Fantasies does posses signs of typical Metric. But production has taken a turn, for the better I say. If The Killers has smartness in their lyrics and arrangements, they must’ve  gotten it from Metric. There is no taking away what Metric has done for the sound of electronic rock.

If in doubt, just rock out to Metric, leave out the others.

www.myspace.com/metric

on a posthumous brink

funny socks

cos, somehow we can’t make decisions ourselves, we tend to rely on others. and that is true of the fact that we do take certain things or people for granted. or when alcohol and dance music gets the better of you, you tend to question yourself and the intentions you set out to accomplish in the first place.  blah! that is beside the point.

the point is i’m going to go ahead on the appointed task at hand. the task that has been christened upon by a dear friend. but i got to tell her something first: nothing has made my day recently, only the fact that I had some nicely compact days and I wish more of that ahead.

Task at hand:

Brooding outfit, Bat for Lashes is back with a second lash at a career built on brooding dark lyrics.

Daniel, her first single off second album, Two Suns sounds very much like what Bat for Lashes would put out. She looks more like Rachael Yamagata and sounds a  bit like Sarah Mclachlan on this one though. The lyrics to this is as sample, love yearning towards a guy called Daniel. The dulcet beat of the drums at the beginning of the song after the first few line of lyrics is slightly hypnotic and interestingly haunting.

Much less in production than What’s a Girl to Do, Daniel manages to hold strong and still remain deliciously brooding both in lyrics and sound. Kind of reminds of earlier material that original ‘brooder’-of-an-artist, Sarah McLachlan used to put out. At the end of it all, Daniel ends on a longing note. Which begs the question, how would Two Suns be as an album. There’s only one way to find out, anticipation.

I’m still enjoying the fact that she still has that Red Indian theme of an image going on.

xoxo

resilient disco

After a bout of uncomfortable disco silence, our disco diva from down under is back to supply her burgeoning disco career another boost. This come in the form of her new single after More Man Than Man, Promiscuity.

Antigone has once again proven herself a serious threat to the already well established disco divas that are already out there. She joins the ever-expanding group of new artist vying for disco domination.

I can say that Promiscuity is a really good track. Bar the fact that More Man Than Man was such a thumper, Promiscuity takes the disco element down one big notch. The song oozes lush electronica production with its weaving pattern. It is also most reminiscent of her Etherfox days. But Promiscuity does show alot of her listeners that she is capable of delivering a range of different songs and still remail so ever stylish.

Antigone’s album is certainly the one to watch along with Little Boots’. Who knows there might be even a competition going with this two little disco diva. I wonder if Roisin is taking heed…

http://www.myspace.com/antigoneland